It has been revealed the two young children of a Perth woman, who died in hospital earlier this week, made the call to triple-0 after she was assaulted in the family's Kewdale home.
The 35-year-old woman's partner — the father of the children — was arrested about 40 minutes later, after crashing his car and fleeing into the yard of a nearby home.
The 37-year-old man is currently under police guard in hospital, where he is receiving treatment for the injuries he suffered in the crash.
No charges have been laid and homicide detectives are yet to formally interview him.
Police are examining if the events on Monday night are linked to an armed robbery, around the same time, at a service station in East Victoria Park, and have appealed for anyone with information about the man's movements between 7.00pm and 8.20pm to come forward.
This morning, WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch revealed it was the two young children who called police after their mother was assaulted.
"You can only imagine the horror that was encountered by them," the commissioner said.
"Any death in a domestic violence situation is horrific in any community."
"Certainly as police commissioner in WA I'm horrified every time I hear about these deaths."
He said the investigation was in its early stages but detectives were working "to progress" the case as fast as they could.
The two children are now being cared for by family members, and police said they hope to speak to them as part of their inquiries.
